Bring the noise

Trojans gear up to raise awareness for mental health

January 27, 2016 === DJ Spin ===Photograph by: Andrew Crossett

January is a month of mental health awareness, with Blue Monday, statistically the most depressing day of the year, Bell Let’s Talk Day and the Trojans Make Some Noise campaign which runs from Jan. 23 to Jan. 28

All of these are designed to help open up conversations about mental health, give the public ways to offer support and give those in need a way to reach out.

The Make Some Noise campaign has grown substantially since its inception three years ago. In 2015, it was awarded the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Community Service Award for its contributions.

Designed with the purpose of raising awareness of mental health issues among student athletes, the program encourages any students, athlete or not, to be part of the conversation.

“We focus a lot of on the physical states of our athletes,” said Samantha Carpenter, Trojan women’s volleyball player and volunteer with the Make Some Noise campaign.

“But we don’t focus on their mental states.”

Carpenter has been working with the Make Some Noise campaign since it began and has seen the program develop into the award-winning program it is today.

“Last year, I really started to hear people in my classes asking about it.”

The week-long event is all about making noise, being loud and creating awareness about issues that aren’t out in the open.

“We’ll go into the different buildings [on campus] with noise makers and cow bell shakers, walk around and scream, and kind of be annoying,” laughed Carpenter. “But it’s for a good cause.”

This is part of the mobile pep rally that takes place for roughly an hour on the first day of the campaign Jan. 23.

Other events during the week include a DJ spin class, an event that had 20 bicycles last year and now has 100, and various Trojan sporting events with free noise makers, shirts and other branded goods.

“The campaign is about showing support,” said Carpenter. Even for those who maybe don’t want to talk about it now, the goal of Make Some Noise is to let them know “they have the support when they need it.”

Carpenter also said the program is great for letting students know where the mental health services are on campus, as many don’t know how to access those resources.

In her own experience, Carpenter said, “I’ve definitely felt the stresses of being a student athlete and seen the positive affects that have come with this campaign.”

Make Some Noise runs for a week on campus and encourages everyone to get out, get loud and support mental health.